All my early university memories are associated with the Infected album (one of my first CDs - I bought it before I owned a CD player). “Infected”, “Slow Train to Dawn” with Neneh Cherry… God, I feel like going to my old uni tavern and playing some pool and drinking beer.
And there was that amazing song from his previous album, the name of which I can’t remember, but the lyrics of the chorus are:
"I’ve got you under my skin where the rain can’t get in…"etc
You are right - and This is the day is another great track, indeed.
So…is he still recording? The last The The album (vinyl, too) I bought was the one with the dove on the bayonet on the cover. But I’ve heard nothing since…
According to Amazon, The The have released eight albums/CD’s. I have three in my collection: Soul Mining (a big amen for the comments on the top tracks of this album), Infected and Mind bomb (the dove/bayonet one). Most recent CD listed is Naked Self (2000).
For years, when people would ask me what my favorite CD is, I would tell them Soul Mining. I don’t listen to it as often these days, but whenever I put it on I am BLOWN AWAY by how well it has stood the test of time.
My favorite cut is “Perfect,” one of my all-time 10 favorite songs, which is to me the perfect pop song (pun intended): brilliant lyrics (see subject line, slightly altered from the original) and a hummable melody. I actually find myself disappointed whenever the song ends.
When Infected came out, I bought it, I liked it (then), and I listened to it fairly frequently. But rather quickly, it began to gather dust on my CD shelves. Frankly, as much as I like Neneh Cherry and female vocalists in general, I didn’t really like them on a The The record.
Over the years, I acquired other Matt Johnson CDs (Dusk, Solitude, etc.). Aside from the collection of Hank Williams covers (Hanky Panky) which was interesting if hardly timeless, none have been particularly memorable.
I haven’t bought his most recent CD (which, interestingly, was released on Interscope records, same label as Nine Inch Nails), but I have heard a few cuts. While not bad, per se, it’s hardly the sort of release that inspires me to spread the word that “Matt is Back!”
Who cares if he is or not? My copy of Soul Mining should last at least another 30 years or so. Fine by me.
When I saw the title of this thread, I thought it was going to be about that immortal Mystery Science Theater 3000 classic, “Attack Of The The Eye Creatures.”
Actually, Matt released The Naked Self on the Nothing label, which is actually owned and run by Trent Reznor…he of course latter decided to leave Nothing…for reasons i don’t quite fully understand.
FWIW, I thought “NakedSelf” was hands-down the best thing to come out in 2000. The Jeff Buckley-esque “The Whisperers” is one of my favorite tracks; anybody know if it was inspired by the c. 1965 British horror flick? Excellent headphone album, BTW – aside from all the richly resonant strumming, I keep hearing little slithery and crackly sounds in there… interesting that he bought up a defunct Shanghai radio station’s ancient analogue (and vacuum tube-reliant) equipment to record it.
Was anyone else hoping against all hope to see The The at one of these post-WTC concerts? I’m still haunted by the tearjerking live performance on national & international TV of “Love is Stronger Than Death” – THAT NEVER WAS. [I’m thinking of the first concert, in particular.] Aaaargh! The concert organizers really blew it… :mad: Especially when you consider that Matt J. lives in Chinatown in lower Manhattan, about a mile (or less) from the WTC. I have to admit it: one of the things that occurred to me after WTC was whether the abrasive dust has affected his home recording… has Matt lost any work in progress? Yes, I really am that shallow…
And I wish I’d made the effort to see him in NYC last year. I’d bought a ticket for his Jersey show [at the Stone Pony?], but that concert was cancelled for “lack of interest”. Damn. And how depressing…
Put me down as one who thinks his material has gotten better over time; “Soul Mining”'s my least-favorite of his.
For all things The The, it’s his somewhat annoying website:
Ah,yes. The The. It was 1986, I was young and naive and enjoying my junior year abroad at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England. “This is the 51st staaaaate…of the Uuuuuu S Aaaaaa…”
Matt Johnson left Nothing due to the merger with Seagrams. Due to the tremendous overhead that this merger entailed, Nothing is no longer such a desireable label to be on; Seagrams needs money, and The The simply don’t make that much. Einsturzende Neubauten also left the label as well after finding out that their last album (Silence Is Sexy) was flat out not going to be released. I saw The The about a year ago in Pittsburgh, and at one point he said something along the lines of “when you sign to Nothing, that’s what you get”.
